Yesterday we made our way from Huế to Hoi An and stopped off at various places along the way. If any of you have ever watched the show in Top Gear where they go over the Hải Vân Pass, thats basically what we did! Along the way we kept having to stop at various little shops and cafes on the side of the road, who were obviously the guide's friends which was a little frustrating. But the views made up for it. We began heading out of the busy city of Huế and began to get out to the countryside and stopped off at a little fishing village, which was basically one or two houses on the edge of a big fish farm. We continued on and after a while began the climb up the Hải Vân Pass with the incredible view of Vịnh Lăng Cô bay and had a little break at the very top where there were a few American Bunkers left over from the war. Before we got into Hoi An we passed the extremely overcrowded beach named China Beach, which stretched from Da Nang to Hoi An and where the American soldiers were posted during their temporary leave from the war.
Today we just chilled in Hoi An, which is a relatively sleepy little town renowned for tailoring. Hoi An used to be Vietnam's main port, with trade coming in from the rest of Asia, Europe and America. However, in the 19th century the river dried up and was no longer viable for large trading ships. During the war, Hoi An was left almost untouched, therefore it remains almost the same as it did a couple hundred years ago. The Old Town is beautiful and has a little market in the main square, whilst all the side streets are not large enough to accommodate cars. There are many old houses scattered around the town, which people still live in today, as well as various temples, pagodas and a Japanese Bridge from the 1590s. This evening we just had an amazing dinner at a restaurant called Mermaid, which was the first ever restaurant in Hoi An, created in 1994 by Ms Trinh Diem Vy.
The little fishing village we passed just outside of Huế
A roadside cafe
just before we began to climb up the Hải Vân Pass
At the top of the Hải Vân Pass